Chapter 2

Kisho Niiya was out for his daily stroll and to see the festival. Most would call him an unremarkable man, easily passed over for others a more interest. Everything about him exemplified a faceless person in a crowd. He had brown hair that was cut short and a black cloth strip was tied around his forehead to keep sweat out of his eyes. He wore an untucked forest green shirt that hung loosely about his frame. His pants were made of brown cloth and hung down to mid-calf. A pair of military style boots bridged the gap between his pants and feet. The only remarkable thing about him was a single scar that ran down his left cheek. It started at his cheekbone and gradually thinned till his chin where it stopped.

Kisho was a recent immigrant from the Land of Valleys and ran a small weapons shop. He was known in his homeland for his amazing weaponry where most of his weapons carried special effects. Unfortunately, he had not yet made a name for himself in Kohona and business was slow. Kisho was once a ninja though he never allied himself with any country. Instead he protected his small village from the usual riff-raff that came around. Kisho left the Land of Valleys after he was forced to kill a local ninja who was working with the criminal element. This ninja had friends though and they came looking for Kisho. He was forced to leave so that the village wouldn't be destroyed for mere revenge, so he moved shop to Kohona.

While on his walk he heard Naruto's scream of fear, peering into the alleyway Kisho could see the mob throwing items at young Naruto. A great fear awoke in Kisho's heart for the young boy.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING TO A MERE CHILD????" Kisho shouted with rage. This caused most of the mob to redirect their attention towards Kisho and stopped attacking Naruto who was curled up into a ball in a corner attempting to protect himself. A few villagers came forward to confront Kisho and attempt to keep him out of it.

"We are finally getting rid of this menace in our midst!" said one villager with fervor. The slightly overset man was obviously drunk and held a large stick of wood in one hand.

"What harm could a young child like that pose to anyone? He looks ready to fall over from starvation at any moment," queried Kisho.

"You are ignorant of the facts so we will excuse your improper judgment." Stated the villager with numerous agreements from those assembled.

"If he has committed a crime then he should be given to the police not lynched in an alleyway by a bunch of drunks!" retorted Kisho with an angry glare.

"The police would protect the little demon! They do not have the guts to finally finish him! Now get away and leave us to the work that must be done!" the villager demanded. To say Kisho was angry would be a gross understatement. No, he was filled with a righteous rage that made him clench his fists till his knuckles were white. Kisho quickly jumped over the crowd and stood in front of Naruto's huddled form.

"If the police would protect this child then what you are doing has no merit. Even if the child has done something wrong this is NOT justice. You will all disperse and leave this child alone. If ANY of you make one more move to harm him you will find yourself at my mercy, and I have no mercy for the likes of you!" Kisho said with an angry glare with enough killing intent to make even a low jonin wet their pants. Some of the villagers started slowly backing up but one cocky chunin took a few steps out of the crowd with his sword brought to the ready.

"You may scare some of them, but you aren't even a ninja, I'll cut you down and finish the job on the demon!" the chunin said in challenge to Kisho. Hearing this many of the mob were heartened and quickly resumed their positions ready to strike at Naruto. Kisho stood his ground and cracked his knuckles in front of the mob. He brought up his right hand and motioned to the chunin to come. The chunin rushed forward and tried to slash at Kisho, however Kisho took a quick step towards the chunin and intercepted the sword with a single bare hand. The blade was stopped instantly and the mob could see the chunin fight with both hands to use the blade. Kisho's hand was grabbing the blade and the groan of metal could be heard as he tightened his grip. Suddenly the blade snapped right under Kisho's grip leaving him with the blade and the chunin with the hilt of his sword. Without the resistance of the blade pushing back at him the Chunin stumbled forward. Kisho flipped the blade over in his hand so the tip was pointing towards the ground and quickly jammed the blade through the chunin's thigh.

The chunin screamed in pain as he stumbled to his hands and knees. This scream was quickly silenced as Kisho delivered a powerful kick to the man's face that knocked him unconscious and caused him to fly into the mob.

"Who wants to be next? If you don't start leaving now I will cut you down one by one." Kisho stated with a determined glare. After seeing his previous spectacle most of the mob turned tail and ran away screaming. This screaming attracted the ANBU of Kohona and a few landed at the fighting site and quickly surveyed the scene. Kisho meanwhile was bent over Naruto trying to get something out of him.

"Hey little un'. You OK?" asked Kisho with concern laden in his voice. Naruto slowly looked up and saw Kisho standing over him. He quickly wrapped himself back into a huddling ball. If life had taught Naruto one thing, it was to fear other people.

"What happened here?" demanded an ANBU member with a raccoon mask. Kisho looked back to see all the ANBU's gazes intently focusing on him and the wounded chunin. Kisho straightened up and met the gaze of the ANBU.

"I was taking a walk and enjoying the festival when I heard a scream from this alleyway. Looking into it I find a mob of people armed with many all kinds of things and they were throwing objects at this young boy. I demanded to know what was going on and they informed me they were going to 'get rid of' this child. I demanded to know why he was being attacked and they said I didn't know what happened so to stay out of it. I demanded to know why he was not turned into the police if he had done something wrong. They told me that the police would protect him and they intended to kill him. So I protected him. This chunin tried to attack me to get to the boy, but I put a stop to that."
stated Kisho. "What kind of people live here that would attack a defenseless child?"

"The boy is not supposed to be attacked, but the reasons for their actions are classified. What is your name as I will need it for the report." said the ANBU.

"I am Kisho Niiya. I run a weapons store in town called "The Hidden Blade" I just moved here from the Land of Valleys." Kisho replied. By now Naruto had uncurled from his ball and was looking at Kisho from the ground. Some of his cuts still bled, but most had scabbed over by this point. Kisho gave him a smile and Naruto gazed back looking confused.

Finally Naruto spoke with a shaking voice, "Thank you for helping me… But why did you?" Kisho's face turned to one of astonishment when he heard these words coming

from Naruto.

"Why wouldn't I??? I don't think I should leave someone to be killed by a mob in the street. Why would I allow it to happen?" Kisho asked back.

"I don't know, but no one else ever stopped to help me. Everyone else would allow me to get beat." Naruto told Kisho confusedly. This didn't sit well at all with Kisho and his anger quickly resurfaced. Naruto saw the tightening of Kisho's face and his eyes betrayed his fear. Kisho noticing this quickly got his emotions back under control and gave Naruto a heartfelt smile.

"I'm sorry for losing control like that little un'. I just have a hard time believing that people could be so cruel. Tell you what, I'll take you back to my place and we'll get you fixed up and some good food in your stomach. OK?" Kisho asked. Naruto seemed torn between his inherent distrust of other people and the tempting offer in front of him. In the end his aching stomach won out and he got up to go with Kisho. The ANBU on duty were astonished by the events, both because of Kisho's offer and with Naruto's acceptance. Kisho smiled down and Naruto and then picked him up off the ground carried him in his arms towards his apartment.

As they walked Kisho introduced himself to Naruto. "I'm Kisho Niiya. I make weapons for a living. What's your name?"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," replied Naruto.

"Well Naruto it is a pleasure to meet you. If you don't mind me asking, where are your parents?" Kisho asked.

"I never knew my parents. I was told they were killed in the Kyuubi attack." Naruto replied sadly.

"Sorry to hear that. Well we are almost there." Kisho said. They walked up to a little weapons shop wedged between an armor shop on one side and shoe store on the other. Kisho fished out a key from his pocket and opened the door to the shop. Walking into the main store area there were loads of weapons. Kunai, swords, staves, brass knuckles, shuriken, and many others lined counters and walls in the shop. Kisho carried Naruto upstairs to where his home was.

The upstairs was moderately furnished with the necessities of living. The main room took up most of the upstairs as a large open space. This area included the kitchen, dining area, and living room. In the back of the room a hallway led to three more rooms. The small kitchen space held an electric stove and a refrigerator against the wall. A pantry dominated the rest of the kitchen wall and a sink was in an island a few feet from the wall. A dining table sat just off of the kitchen area with four chairs surrounding it. In the middle of the table sat a napkin holder and salt and pepper shakers. The living room consisted of a brown couch with reclining ends and a coffee table that sat in front off it. Both pieces of furniture faced the wall were and entertainment center held a TV. Next to the entertainment center was a large bookshelf crammed with books of all sorts.

Kisho carried Naruto to the back rooms and entered the only door on the right hand side. The bathroom was in good order with a toilet and a bath/shower. The sink area was cluttered with the usual bathroom implements. Above the sink was a medicine cabinet with a mirror on the front. Kisho set Naruto down on the toilet and pulled some hydrogen peroxide out of the cabinet.

"Alright Naruto, I am going to rub something onto your wounds. This stuff will make sure you don't get an infection. I will warn you that it will sting a bit," Kisho stated. Naruto nodded slowly and Kisho grabbed a rag out of a drawer below the sink. He got it damp under the faucet and used it first to clean some of the grime and blood from Naruto's wounded areas. After rinsing the rag off Kisho poured a bit of the hydrogen peroxide on each of Naruto's wounds. The chemical started fizzing and Naruto hissed in pain. Kisho wiped off each wound after the chemical was done. "All done. Now I want you to take a bath while I make us something to eat. Can you do that?" Naruto meekly shook his head, seeing this Kisho let out a sigh. "Ok. I'll help you…"

Kisho reached over and started up a bath for Naruto and removed his tattered and grubby clothes. Kisho lifted Naruto up and gingerly placed him in the bathtub. Grabbing a new washcloth Kisho started cleaning the dirt and gunk that was endured on Naruto's skin. By the time he was finished the water in the bathtub was filthy, and he hadn't even gotten to Naruto's hair! Kisho drained the tub and refilled it with clean water. Next he started on the ratted and tangled hair on Naruto's head. The hair was filled with all sorts of junk. Twigs and bits of grass had been stuck in the hair as well as weeks worth of grime. Kisho had to actually grab a pair of scissors to cut out some gum that was in Naruto's hair.

Kisho finally finished bathing Naruto and dried him off with a towel. Without all the dirt Naruto looked ten times better, though nowhere near healthy. Kisho brought out a shirt and some shorts from the store below his home for Naruto to wear. They were of simple cotton material with the shirt being white and the shorts blue. "Now that the bath is taken care off lets go down and get you something to eat." Kisho said. Naruto seemed to cheer considerably at this. Kisho quickly whipped up some rice balls and pork. He set it down in front of Naruto and was astounded at the speed in which Naruto devoured the meal. Considering the lack of meat on Naruto's bones this shouldn't have come as a surprise. Kisho quickly refilled Naruto's plate with food as Naruto devoured it. After 4 plates of food Naruto seemed satisfied and sat back in the chair with a content look on his face.

"Seeing how late it is, I think it's time you got to sleep." Kisho told Naruto. Kisho grabbed a pillow and blanket out of a closet and laid Naruto down on the couch. Placing the blanket over Naruto; Kisho wished him a good night and headed down to his room to go to sleep.